Insects and Kin

In July, the artichoke blossoms open, attracting swarms of rose beetles. The shining emerald of the beetle against the pale purple flower has got to be one of Nature's most wonderful color combinations. Photograph by Peter B Tzannes, 2003.

This shy millipede has a dark, glossy body that stretches and curls along the wall to form amusing shapes, transforming itself from a straight line into a question mark, a half-circle, or an ess-curve, then curling up into a little spiral when disturbed. Photograph by
Peter B Tzannes, 2004

Even in death, when its body segments turn into a dry little heap of tiny white hoops, the vromopapadia can put out a repulsive smell. If you find it necessary to remove a vromopapadia, dead or alive, do so gingerly and respectfully. A piece of adhesive tape comes in handy. Photograph by Peter B Tzannes, 2004

In summer time, the female mud wasp can be seen lugging a paralyzed spider along a wall. She’ll put her victim in a mud cell, then lay her eggs and seal the cell. When the baby wasps hatch, the spider will provide their infant formula.

This magnificent, emerald colored beetle is happily quite common on Kythera, and catching sight of one glinting in the sunlight is always a treat. In “My Family and Other Animals,” Gerald Durrell writes about a Rose Beetle Man, who always had a fleet of rose beetles tied to strings buzzing around his hat.